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There is no way to put into words the level of discomfort a BUD/S
(Basic Underwater Demoltion/SEAL training) student endures. In a
nutshell, the seven-month selection process just sucks.

Take, for instance, the unwelcome committee of seasoned
instructors, who seem to have the lungs of a hot air balloon and
the running mechanics of a cheetah, yet demand that students keep
up with them on conditioning runs. Add to that the unrealistic
expectation that if students fail to keep up on the runs then
they’re put into the “goon squad,” which means they do remedial
exercises to get “stronger” -- or until the instructor gets tired
watching.

In the private sector, there are like-minded predators that want
to eat you up and swallow your business whole in hopes of
eliminating the competition. Similar to a run in BUD/S, if you
let up or are too slow, you fall behind, get “gooned,” and risk
failure.

Keeping up with the competition isn’t good enough if you want to
be elite. You need to redefine the marketplace as your own,
surpass the rest, spike the mic and exit the stage. To
get and stay ahead of the game, try the following:

1. Get real-time feedback. While there was no
shortage of feedback from SEAL instructors, offering -- and
sometimes soliciting -- feedback can be a touchy subject.

Fortunately, Vancouver-based software company ResponseTek bridges the feedback gap
between consumers and vendors by offering text messaging to
solicit compliments or critiques related to employee
performance. A consumer can submit feedback directly to
front-line employees so they can immediately improve
their work performance.

2. Use current metrics. Every week in BUD/S
there were timed evolutions, such as four-mile timed runs,
two-mile ocean swims, and problem-solving under stress (i.e.
time). Instructors kept detailed logbooks on which students
passed what exercises and how fast just in case the time comes in
the future to review that student’s performance. Having the
metrics as an immediate go-to only helps support your argument if
others opine differently.

In the business world, Domo offers software-as-a-service
solutions for your business by providing direct access to
business data minus the headache of IT. You can fuse all your
business intelligence, scorecards, visualizations and metrics
into one dashboard so your go-to information is readily at
hand.

3. Get social. In BUD/S, weekends were a
time to blow off steam from the previously inconceivable week you
just endured. It was also a great way to socialize with
classmates in diverse settings and see who the social hand
grenades were. After all, a classmate may be tough as nails, but
if you’d rather count ceiling tiles than listen to that person's
voice again, then that’s an important piece of social data to
know.

Similarly, if your brand isn’t perceived as social yet, get out
there. While social media changes every day with new twitter
tools or analytics software, “54 percent of
business-to-business buyers begin their buying process
with informal research about business problems, with a whopping
78 percent of this time spent researching online,” according to
B2B Marketing. Another interesting fact is
that web surfers spend an average of four times more time on
Tumblr and Pinterest than on Twitter. So, in deciding whether
to socialize your business, choosing how you socialize is just
as important as whether you do.

While the full experiences of BUD/S won’t completely transfer
over to the startup world, the lessons certainly do. Use
feedback, metrics and a method to share your insights or
services with others and you’ll be in the 10 percent who make it
successfully -- much like BUD/S.